Quotation markers as intertextual codes in electoral propaganda

Abstract

This article explores the intertextual nature (as defined by Kristeva) of linguistic markers used to denote quotations (quotation markers) in the 1999 Israeli televised electoral campaign. Three kinds of quotation markers were identified: source markers (references, qualifiers), describing the source; speech markers (lexical, graphical), attesting to speech production; and circumstance markers, describing the context (time, place, participants, background) in which the quotation was produced. It was found that, in addition to their overt role as references to the quotation, quotation markers also encode the ideological and argumentative value attributed by the parties to the quotations and their sources. Source markers serve to affiliate the sources with the positively regarded “we” group, to exclude them, or to establish them as neutral; speech and circumstance markers serve to affiliate quotations with the positively regarded ideological text of the party, to exclude them, or to mark them as neutral. Moreover, these three markers serve to reinforce the reliability of quotations that fulfill a corroborative role. These values are encoded by the mere presence of the markers, as well as by such devices as variation in the frequency of the markers, their content, emotive connotations, grammatical forms, and incorporation in recurring patterns.